While it was no doubt celebrated when Microsoft revealed that the classic fighter Killer Instinct was making a comeback, exclusively to Xbox One, it was also puzzling when developer Double Helix revealed that the game would only offer players a measely one character at first, requiring players to pay for more, should they so choose.
The developer is arguing that this apparent lack of choice is because, according to them, gamers don't want a lot of gigantic roster of characters from which to choose.
Speaking with Polygon, Microsoft producer Torin Rettig said, "Most fighting games that come out are disc based games where you get a huge cast of awesome characters, but it is a massive cast. Some games have anywhere between 30, 40, even 50 characters. And in reality, most players don't play that many characters."
The fighting games that have this many characters do so because they've slowly been added to over the years: Mortal Kombat, Tekken, DOA, etc. We haven't seen a new Killer Instinct game since 1996, close to 20 years ago. Had Killer Instinct kept receiving sequels like so many other fighters out there, I can guarantee that it's roster would be as large as so many other games, because adding new characters is a way of keeping the sequels fresh.
Generally speaking, I'll admit that when a game like Mortal Kombat Armageddon for example, came out with its dizzying selection of 62 fighters, I didn't regularly play with every single character included. But if the game's story is engaging enough, then yes, I have, and will, go back and beat the game's story or arcade mode (whichever provides me with the character's ending) with every player so I can see that character's specific ending. This is something I've done with most fighters, provided I was skilled enough to do so.
Retting continued, "You just only have so much time to get good at so many characters. So we wanted to take that into consideration and release the game in a way that took that into consideration and allowed players to get in and play the game at the level that they want to play it."
If players want more characters with this new KI game, they'll have to pay for them. All of them. No pricing details have been revealed, but a season pass will be offered so players can get all the game's content at once.
Consider the recently released Tekken Revolution. It starts off players with a small roster (8 times what players will have to start with in the new Killer Instinct), but instead of having players pay for more characters, they're unlocked over time. Why Microsoft couldn't have offered a similar model as a business is understandable, but given all the negative PR the console is getting, you think they'd be willing to make some adjustments. I understand some of Retting's "points," but this sounds like a straight up cash grab more than anything else.